Cathron Country Designs

This is what I have been up too...

It has been a very busy time for us... one of our daughters got married last Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding. Here are some pics that I would like to share with you all....

Our two gorgeous little grand daughters..... Trying to look so formal during the ceremony.......

Our son in law Tim, watching his bride walk down the aisle......

As they were all about to walk down the aisle.

The ceremony.

Mr and Mrs Clarke.

The bridal party... the bridesmaids wore black and they all, including the bride carried a handbag instead of flowers.

Team Clarke... Louella, Tim and Xavier.....

A hug for Dad...

A slow dance with Hubby......

Enough energy to kick your heels up with the bridesmaids... LOL

I am still so tired from it all......

Oct 17, 2012 7:32:03 AM

Some of what I have been working on.....

I am always very busy at this time of the year as I have two huge craft shows to get ready for. The Mt Tambourine Christmas craft show is first, in a couple of weeks time and then in early November I have Christmas in the country in Gatton....

Here are some dolls I have made..... cannot show you all of them as some will be coming out shorty in one of the magazines and I cannot spoil the surprise.....

The first one is a puppy angel..... if you look closly she has wire wings and a wire halo.....

Two little cuties with their toys.......

A cat and her kitty.......

Two cute little bunnie waiting for Santa.....

Annie and Andy... Santa I've been good.....

Two cute little bears..... Us too Santa...

Some little wooden tags that have been finished off.

I found three little dolls with no legs...

so this is what I have made to hold them....

I am vey happy with how they have turned out.

I am going to make these into a pattern......

I still have heaps to do and one of our daughters is getting married in two weeks time as well... so we are doubly busy... This weekend is her hens weekend and they are all off to the Gold Coast.....

Well I had better get off here and back into my work..... But before I go... Look at what was resting in the shade under the tree near our yard the other day.... I crept up ever so quielty... but he still heard me and stood up... he was quite big...

Sep 28, 2012 7:00:10 AM

Once again I have been snowed under.

Where is this year going to..??? It is just skipping by very fast.

I have had these little cuties published in Handmade...

These have been in Country Threads.....

And this cutie has been in Patchwork and Stitching.........

These have been in Creative Times and The Rusty Tin Roof online US magazines......

There have been more in the US magazines... but for the life of me I cannot remember which ones... LOL

I have more to come out in the Aussie and online US mags this year as well.... so you can see part of what has kept me so busy. No excuse... I just have to get back into my blog posting.

Plus I have been working on patterns to sell as well.... so far I have finished these in the past month or so.......

And it doesn't look like things will slow down yet... I have 2 large craft shows to attend in the next two months, plus one of our daughter's is getting married and I have a large order to complete plus... more patterns to finish, which means writing the patterns and making the samples...... so I figure I should be able to breathe around Christmas time....

So you can see I haven't been just laying around......

I am off here now as I have dolls to make today....have fun

everyone.......

Sep 15, 2012 7:08:51 AM

Here are the latest little cuties that I have just finished.

There is a third... but I cannot show you yet as she will be going in an online magazine as a freebie is a couple of months time... but she is a cutie as well.

I also have made one of our daughters a cover for her kindle.....

It even has a pocket to hold the cord....

I am working on more items so will post soon.....

Aug 22, 2012 10:52:59 AM

Where has all the time gone too..?????

Does anyone know where all my time has gone too.... if by any chance you have any spare, please send it my way. I have been flat out and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day for me.

I have been designing new dolls and making items for the magazines, plus catching up on orders. I have made another cute Shannon doll. That is what I am calling her as the first lady who ordered one is named Shannon. This one is dressed in pinks... how cute is she.

Then I had to make a Jemma and Evie doll for another lady.

And she also wanted one of these dolls as well...... I just have to add a bow to her hair and she is finished.

Then I have made three new patterns for these little cuties......

$7 for an e patter each

$12 for a hard copy each... this includes postage.

Just e mail if you would like any. Payment by Pal Pal for all overseas and credit card payment and direct deposit is also available for Australian customers.

We have both been down with the dreaded flu that is doing the rounds... thank goodness we both had our flu shots and never got it as bad as others have.

Another thing that has happened to us... well to our house... one day the roof looked like this... I was a bit worried about the roofing, but apparently our roof is made from very old tin and it was made thicker then it is today. The fella said it was very safe to walk on and never even dinted.

By that night it looked like this.... yes we now have solar panels... just have to wait for the next bill to see if there is a difference. We had just paid our last bill when these were put on......

These dolls have come out in magazines so far over the past few months......

Maddison was in Handmade......

This little Annie and kitty were in Handmade as well.....

Felicity was in Country Threads........

There are more dolls and other items to come out in the coming months. I am enjoying doing these things...... I love the challenge of having to come up with something to suit what they are looking for. I have also had patterns released in USA online magazines Rusty Tin Roof and Creative Times.

We have moved our two daughters from St George back to Toowoomba... I am glad that is over. I had to drive the removal truck again... LOL. But they are easy to drive and this time we hired from Europcar and they were fantastic to deal with. Would definately recommend them to anyone who is moving.

Minky and pumpkin our kittens are coming along nicely... little mischief makers they are... LOL

Hubby has been trying to get the back yard looking good again... his garden has suffered over the past few months. I am just not into gardening at all... I would much rather make a doll or stitch a cute design.......

I had better get off here and get some more work done....

Have fun everyone..... give me a little time and I will get the freebie stitchery pattern up and running. So you better keep popping back in here to see when it starts.

Aug 4, 2012 11:55:24 AM

New additions to our family....

Please meet Pumpkin and Minky.... our two new kittens. They are brother and sister and we bought them from the local cat refuge. I wanted to bring them all home with me... there were so many looking for a home. They are four months old and so cute.....

For anyone who wants to sell items made from my patterns. I have tags available, to add to them. The tags will name you as the maker and me as the designer. They are free for anyone who would like them. Just email if you would like them and I will add your name and e mail them to you and all you have to do is print them off and laminate them and they are ready to use....

Jun 20, 2012 9:24:12 AM

Part 2 of Retreat 2012

Of course I made things at retreat as well.... I managed to get three wall hanging tops put together. I did them all on my own too, just needed a little advice from a few of the girls. Thanks Julie, Jeanette and Cindy.

This one is to be a pattern called My Family...

This one will be called Apple Harvest.....

This will be a smaller wall hanging... no name yet... There was also another small wall hanging... I will have to take a pic of it later as I missed it at retreat.

This is a freebie BOM that I will be giving away very shortly on my blog...

Come on you didn't think I was going to spoil the surprise did you... LOL. But here is a look at Block #1. The BOM is called Bees in my Backyard....

Now two more pics I stole off Julie's blog... Maree my bestest friend and room mate... she had to try and have a Nana nap as I had her up so early of a morning. Hey I did wait until 6.30... well on one day I did... the others may have been earlier.... who was checking... LOL

And my favourite dessert of the weekend. Gosh did it go down well...

We had three days at retreat this year due to the Queen's birthday long weekend. But alas it has now changed to October... but we have managed to have three days next year as well as we will arrive on the Friday morning and leave on Sunday afternoon...... come on 2013...we are counting down the days... how many sleeps Julie ????? LOL

this year we had some new ladies join us for our weekend. Margaret K, her sister Judy, Sue from NZ, Sharon, Gail and Ann. And next year we will have another new lady another Helen. Our regulars will be there as was this year Marg, Julie, Helen, Barb, Bev, Deb, Jeanette, Cindy, Maree and me of course.

one last Pic... Julie amongst other things also made a scarf... she didn't want to show a pic, but I did manage to get a pic of her wearing another scarf that she had made earlier... the one at retreat was the same just in a different colour. Julie did other things as well another powerhouse worker when it comes to crafting.....

Thank you girls for making the weekend so wonderful.......

Jun 20, 2012 9:09:52 AM

Retreat 2012

I know I am a slacker as I have been home a week and only getting this post up now. Once again we have had our weekend retreat at Mt Alford Lodge. This year we had 16 ladies share in all the fun of the three days, next year we will have 17 so it will be more fun..... As usual the food was fantastic if you would like to see much of what we had to eat please check out Julie's blog... she managed to capture almost all of the meals we had while staying there.

Jeanette took her camera and left it in the cabin, but she did take pics of all she made while she was at retreat after she returned home. It was wonderful to have Jeanette with us again as the day before retreat her daughter was taken to hospital to have her appendix out.....

I did manage to get one pic taken of the food...... I was too busy eating and chatting for the remainder of the weekend.

Oh and one pic of our table.

This was our cozy dining room as we had taken over the dining room for our work room, so we ate in the work room. Which I am told will be larger next year as they are making some renovations to enlarge the work room. That will be fantastic for us.

This is the room we used as our work room... It looks so peaceful and quiet here... Trust me it didn't last long. I should of taken a pic when I first arrived and it was so neat and tidy...

And I thought I was the first one back after lunch... I didn't see Miss Jeanette sneak back in... LOL

This gorgeous Trio was made by my friend Margaret K. Marg made them from some of my graphic drawings and yes she will eventually make patterns for them and yes I will be selling the patterns.

This is Marg K and I painting doll faces on the Monday. I was so excited when Marg and her sister decided to attend our retreat as Marg is one of my favourite doll makers in the world. I stole the pic from Julie's blog......

I am an early riser and love to get to the work room before everyone arrives... It is so peaceful. I didn't even have the lights turned on.

As soon as the lights are turned on they start to filter in.

There was some sibling rivalry between Marg K and her sister Judy. They were both making the same quilt top and Marg did not win. But I must say this was due to some evil doings from Judy. She printed out a pattern for Marg to follow, they purchased the kits from an American magazine. But Judy conveniently left out a few crucial stages in the putting together process so poor Marg was a little lost.... But all was forgiven and Marg was able to complete her top as well....

Here are the things that the girls made at retreat... another good haul by everyone. The bag was a popular choice for almost everyone to make. It really is a marvelous bag so large. Barb sent me another pic of things she made at retreat... the woman is a powerhouse when it comes to making things.

I will end this post now as it won't let me add any more pics. So I will continue in another post...

Cath Ü

Jun 20, 2012 8:38:03 AM

I have just been so busy....

People are starting to e mail to see if I am still alive.... yes I am... I have just been so busy. Getting things done for the magazines and some new patterns for me as well.

Up the Mountain is over and once again it was a lovely show. Now I have to prepare stock for the next one Up the Mountain in October and Christmas in the Country in Gatton in November. It takes awhile to get all the things made and ready for sale, so it is an ongoing process all year long.

I can give you a sneak peek at some things that will be coming out in the magazines later this year.

Now come on you didn't think I was going to give much away did you...????? All I can say is one involves a birthday and one involves Christmas. But they are so cute.

I am busily getting new patterns finished as well. I am doing a cute prim series of dolls. One girl and one boy in each pattern. They will be worth the wait as they are cute.

Next weekend sees me and 15 friends off to Mt Alford for our yearly sewing retreat. I am especially excited this year as one of my favourite doll designers will be there as well... we can dolly away together... I am just so excited and am counting the sleeps.

Remember these little cuties from Up the Mountain...

The blue one sold... the red one went, but sadly she was kidnapped. I even had her tied to her wagon.... but she was cut loose and taken. Smuggled away never to be seen again. I hope she is being well looked after and not mistreated. I have enough fabric left to make one exactly like her so I am lucky as I thought she was adorable.....

Our youngest daughter is coming home again.. we will start to call her boomerang soon... LOL But it will be nice to have her here again... though we will no longer have any internet left and will have to fight for the computer. Oh that is right she has her own... I bet that is the first item she packs and the X Box... LOL

As usual I have a million ideas running around in my head trying to escape... I have to get some of them out as they are driving me crazy.

Another thing I have just finished as well is a website I designed and set up for my sister... she is an author of paranormal romance stories. Please check out her website by clicking on the below link. www.normajnielsen.com

It didn't take me long to do the website... the trouble was trying to work out how to use my new program. Dreamweaver CS5... I also own Dreamweaver CS4 and Dreamweaver CS3.. you would think they would be pretty similar... NO... they are not... I even have the Dreamweaver on demand book... but still it was hard to follow... once I got it figured out it was easy and the website was made in no time at all......

Well I have a stack of work to get stuck into so I had better get off here and start on it.....

Have fun everyone...

Jun 4, 2012 8:53:43 AM

Up the Mountain is on again......

The Mt Tambourine craft show is on again this weekend... I set up my stall on Wednesday and the show started yesterday. My grandson Kynnan came and helped me set it all up... He was a terrific help as he carried everything inside for me and then helped me set things out as well.

Here are some pics of my stand... sorry a couple are blurry.